All major HDTV manufacturers have flagship lines, and those flagships typically come with large price tags and very-good-to-excellent pictures. Samsung's JS9500 series of curved ultra high-definition (UHD, or 4K) LCD televisions certainly has the first part down, with the 65-inch UN65JS9500FXZA we tested retailing for $4,999.99. And on paper, it has the second part locked as well, with excellent color accuracy and contrast. Unfortunately, this television also suffers from light bloom thanks to the very LED backlighting system that lets it display such strong contrast numbers. This means you'll have to choose between dark scenes that either look washed out or covered with distracting haze. If you're willing to spend even more, LG's EG9600 series  is a better choice, with a superb OLED panel that offers far superior black levels and not a hint of light bloom.

Design

The 65JS9500 is eye-catching, as curved screens tend to be. The panel is framed by a half-inch brushed aluminum bezel that angles slightly inward. A glowing Samsung logo sits on the bottom bezel, marring the elegant look of the screen with its harsh white light. Fortunately, you can set the logo to only glow when the TV is off, only when it's on, or you can turn it off entirely. The HDTV sits on a sturdy, three-ended metal foot that fits with the design aesthetic of the TV.

The back of the 65JS9500 holds a single A/V connection in addition to the power port. Rather than place all of the inputs on the HDTV itself, Samsung moves them all to a separate OneConnect box that plugs into the HDTV with the included cable. The 1.3-by-14.4-by-4.3-inch (HWD) plastic rectanglular box is the same silver-color as the TV, with all of the ports you need on the back and right side. The back of the box holds four HDMI inputs, an Ethernet port, an EX link port, a component/composite video input port that works with the included component and composite connectors, a USB 3.0 port, and an antenna/cable connector. The right side of the box holds an optical audio output, a 3.5mm IR blaster port, and two USB 2.0 ports. It keeps all of the ports in a single place that's much more accessible than the back of the screen, but you still need to find a place to put the separate box. Fortunately, it's small enough to tuck on or behind most Blu-ray players and cable/satellite boxes.  

There's a four-direction control stick on the lower-right corner of the back of the screen, providing basic menu navigation functions if you can't find the remote. Just like with all connected HDTVs, you're going to want to stick to the remote (or app-based control) most of the time. The control stick is mostly just a backup.